When you know God during your sojourn on this earth, life has fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement.

Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth!

~~Elisabeth Elliot

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

In the classic Dickens tale A Christmas Carol, Scrooge is a stingy old man obsessed with making money. One night, in a dream, he’s shown the horrible future that will be his unless he changes his selfish ways. Delighted for the second chance, Scrooge bounds out of bed and makes amends with his family and employees. After giving his clerk a long-overdue raise, he exclaims, “I’m so happy. I just can’t help it!”

Do you long for that kind of happiness? Does it seem as if joy is always just beyond your grasp? Have you searched but can’t find it?

The truth is, it’s right in front of you, around you, within you. When you know God during your sojourn on this earth, life has fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement.

Ask God to renew such joy in you so that you will be so overflowing you just can’t help it!

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, please overflow my heart with the joy of knowing you.

Scripture for Meditation

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:11

Music for Meditation

Faithful God 

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I want to live my life well, Lord, so others will want to know you.

Each person must live their life as a model for others.

~~Rosa Parks

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

Sometimes we think we have to live our lives as society tells us to live. It’s easy to be drawn in by advertisements promising health, wealth, and adoring friends if we would just act a certain way, dress in these particular fashions, and use the latest buzzwords.

The trouble with living your life as society dictates is that you’ll be just like everyone else! You’d be a role model of . . . well . . . nothing special.

Here’s an idea: Why not make a point of living your life as the Bible directs? Looking to Jesus as your role model will certainly make you stand out from the crowd! And when you stand out as one who “walks the walk” of the Christian, others will want to follow. How you live your life will speak volumes about your faith, even when you don’t have a chance to say a word.

Prayer for Meditation

I want to live my life well, Lord, so others will want to know you.

Scripture for Meditation

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Ephesians 5:1

Music for Meditation

We Are 

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com

Thank you, God, for the wonderful gift of your son, Jesus.

She had never heard anything so beautiful. She couldn’t remember ever hearing the complete story before as it was given in the scripture . . . A little baby born in a stable was God’s Son.

~~Jenette Oke

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

It’s a familiar story. A young Hebrew teenager is told by an angel that she has been chosen by God to hear a very special child. Her fiancé threatens to cancel the wedding. The same angel interrupts his plan. She visits her relative Elizabeth, who is much older and also pregnant. She returns to Nazareth to wait for her child’s birth, only to be required to make the ninety-mile journey to Bethlehem close to her due date. With no room in the inn, she gives birth in a manger and uses an animal feeding trough as a bassinette.

 A strange story? Yes. A story full of surprises? Yes. A story that affects us today? Another yes! This little baby—Jesus—was a gift to all humankind. Our healer. Our Savior. Our Lord.

No story is more beautiful, more astounding, more life-changing. The little baby born in a stable was God’s Son.

Prayer for Meditation

Thank you, God, for the wonderful gift of your son, Jesus.

Scripture for Meditation

And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in manger, because there was no lodging available for them. Luke 2:4-7

Music for Meditation

Oh Holy Night 

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God is more interested in developing our character than He is in manipulating our circumstances to make us happy.

~~Cynthia Heald

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

“Whatever makes you happy.” That’s the message that bombards us from the world. If we didn’t know any better, we’d think that being happy should be our goal and the basis of all our decision making.

God calls us to be different, however. Not that we can’t be happy—far from it. But happiness is not the ultimate goal for our lives. We always seek to follow God in and through our circumstances. We aren’t all consumed with happiness because we know there’s something greater, something deeper.

We can’t control our circumstances in order to assure happiness. And God won’t do it either. Bad things happen, and through those tough times God wants to develop our character.

Beloved, God loves you, and he has promised unspeakable joy if you follow him. And on the way, he is committed to developing your character—which has an eternal value beyond compare.

Prayer for Meditation

Father, help me to want you more than the happiness the world offers.

Scripture for Meditation

The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight for living. Psalm 19:8

Music for Meditation

In Christ Alone 

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Thank you, Lord, for loving me. You’ve captured my heart.

He could have roared on top of a mountain, but he whispered in the voice of a baby. He could have ordered our obedience; instead he calls for our hearts.

~~Sheila Walsh

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

From the farthest galaxies to the tiniest microscopic creature—God is the creator of all. We exist because he allowed us to.

As such, does he not have the right to demand our love and obedience? Indeed, he had every right to roar from the top of the mountain and demand that we obey him or else. Instead, he decided to let us choose. Instead of yelling at us from a mountain, he whispered at us in the voice of a baby—his Son—born to save us. Instead of ordering us to obey, he woos us to love.

We choose to respond because we see eyes brimming with tenderness. We willingly comply because our souls are captivated by his grace. We obey because it shows that we love the one who lavishes love on us.

God wants you to choose him today. That’s how much he loves you.

Prayer for Meditation

Thank you, Lord, for loving me. You’ve captured my heart.

Scripture for Meditation

But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15

Music for Meditation

We Are 

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Peace on earth? It begins right in your own heart.

It is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His.

~~Corrie Ten Boom

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

As we near the Christmas season, we sing carols that describe the hope of peace on earth. Corrie ten Boom, living through the heinous evil of the concentration camps in World War II, deeply understood the depravity of the human soul without Christ. Healing for the world will not come through human goodness or even our ability to forgive others. We are fallible, imperfect, and, without Christ, unable to truly display those noble characteristics. And even if we can act with forgiveness and goodness, who’s to say everyone else on the planet is willing and able?

Healing will only occur because of Christ’s forgiveness and goodness. Only he can change hearts. Only he can take the darkness and bring light. Only he can heal the sickness of sin. Only he can offer us his righteousness.

Peace on earth? It begins right in your own heart.  

Prayer for Meditation

Peace on earth begins with me. In my heart today, Lord, give me your peace.

Scripture for Meditation – Psalm 40:2

But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. Malachi 4:2

Music for Meditation

Love Comes Down 

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Think back across your year, beloved, and thank God for his gifts to you.

Think of having a whole penny for your very own. Think of having a cup and a cake and stick of candy and a penny. There had never been such a Christmas.

~~Laura Ingalls Wilder

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

What small pleasures do you remember from your childhood Christmases? What small items came to you in the toe of a stocking that you still remember to this day?

The contents of the Christmas stocking in Wilder’s story seem pitifully little to us today—a cup, a small cake, a stick of candy, and a penny. Yet in a life that had few material possessions, those were wonders, and she marveled at her riches.

What small but important riches has God given you? What “little” gifts came into your life this past year, almost overlooked because they were—well—expected? What grace did God give to you and your family? It might appear like no more than a “whole penny” to some folks, but to you, it is a precious gift from God.

Think back across your year, beloved, and thank God for his gifts to you.

Prayer for Meditation

Thank you, Father, for the small gifts you have given me in this past year.

Scripture for Meditation

So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. Matthew 7:11

Music for Meditation

Savior To Me 

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God holds the threads of our lives securely in His hand.

God is the Divine Quilter. How lovingly he gathers up the scraps and remnants and leftovers of my experiences, my brokenness, and my joy. With the skillful needlework of grace, he stitches it all together to make a wonderful whole.

~~Lucinda Secrest McDowell

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

You don’t have to be a quilter to appreciate the hard work and artistry of a handmade quilt—a lifetime of memories held in each stitch, each piece of fabric lovingly chosen.

Our lives are like a patchwork quilt. On the days when we believe we are a mess or at best, a “crazy quilt,” God thinks differently. Somehow he fits each event of our lives—even the senseless ones or the painful ones we wish to forget—into a display of surpassing beauty. Faith in Jesus is the thread that runs throughout the handiwork. This thread not only holds everything together, it makes our quilt priceless.

Perhaps in heaven we’ll finally realize why that thread of brokenness we believed so ugly was the perfect complement to the thread of joy. For now we can rest content that God, the Divine Quilter, is creating a masterpiece

Prayer for Meditation

Lord God, I trust that you hold the threads of my life securely in your hand.

Scripture for Meditation – Psalm 40:2

He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Colossians 1:17

Music for Meditation

Beautiful to Me 

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Don’t lose heart. God can bring good out of any failure. You simply need to trust him.

If then, you sometimes fall, do not lose heart. Even more, do not cease striving to make progress from it, for even out of your fall God will bring some good.

~~Corrie Ten Boom

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

Falls and failures hurt. With some hurts, we bear the emotional and sometimes physical scars for a long time. We are often left to feel that we no longer have any value to God—after all, we’ve let him down. We could retreat and lick our wounds. We could find a way to blame someone else. We might just decide to never try again.

By simply living our lives we will fail once in a while, Teresa explains. But even if we’re at the ground zero of failure and feeling utterly humiliated, we’re not to give in to discouragement. God knows our hearts, and he certainly knows that failing is not the end of our usability as believers. He can bring good out of the mess we sometimes make of our lives.

Don’t lose heart. God can bring good out of any failure. You simply need to trust him.

Prayer for Meditation

If I fall, Lord, lift me up so that I might continue to serve you.

Scripture for Meditation

Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Matthew 26:41

Music for Meditation

Keep Breathing, Keep Believing 

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When there’s nothing left to give the Lord, then you have to look at what you have. Your soul. Yourself.

Love is enough . . . When there’s nothing left to give the Lord, then you have to look at what you have. Your soul. Yourself. And that is the only gift. He wants from His children.

~~Bodie Thorne

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

We’ve all made them, requested or not—our Christmas wish list. As children we weren’t concerned about the prices or availability of the items on our list, so we could let our imaginations run wild.

If God were to make a wish list, what do you think he’d want from us? Our gifts of money or time? Maybe he really would like to see more acts of service, Anything we consider difficult—maybe that’s what God wants from us.

Or maybe we’re in difficult straits right now and we have no time or money or strength to give anything. What can we possibly give?

Bodie Thoene tells us. Ourselves. That’s what God wants.

You are the best and most valuable gift of all.

Prayer for Meditation

I give myself and my love to you. It’s all I have.

Scripture for Meditation

And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5

Music for Meditation

 No Matter What 

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Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul.

Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in health without them.

~~Mahalia Jackson

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

We want to stay healthy, so we take our vitamins. We eat our vegetable and fruit; we watch our sugars and carbohydrates. We have this one body and, in order to serve God well, we need to keep it as strong as we can.

The Bible provides advice about a different type of health—that of the spirit. God is the Great physician who is invested in our spiritual health. He prescribes faith and prayer—the “vitamins of the soul” –to keep us living vibrant spiritual lives. A daily intake of faith helps us see beyond our current circumstances to God’s promises. It allows us to hope for that which we do not see. Prayer strengthens and supports our vital connection with the Great Physician who watches over our souls.

Open your Bible. Take your vitamins. Your spiritual health depends on it.  

Prayer for Meditation

My Great Physician, may faith and prayer be my daily vitamins so I can serve you.

Scripture for Meditation – Psalm 40:2

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. Romans 12:11-12

Music for Meditation

You’re Not Alone 

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Lord, when I can’t sense your presence, help me see you through the eyes of faith.

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

There are times in our spiritual lives when we’re not sure where we’re headed or if God is even listening. Such spiritual dryness often comes after an event of great spiritual triumph or a spiritual “high” (ironically). Sometimes it comes after a painful defeat. Either way, we feel alone in a vast wilderness with no oasis in sight. We wander. We don’t know which direction to turn.

If you’re facing such a wandering period right now, beloved, don’t despair. You aren’t lost, or alone, or cast aside. This is a faith-building time. Like any muscle, faith is built up through hard work and discipline. Taking faith steps exercises that muscle. Continue to talk to God, even if you’re not sure he’s listening. Continue to trust that he will provide, protect, and guide—even if no evidence presents itself.

God is there even as you wander. He will bring you back. Soon.

Prayer for Meditation

Lord, when I can’t sense your presence, help me see you through the eyes of faith.

Scripture for Meditation—Psalm 107:4-9

Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless.

Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died.

“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress.

He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live.

Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.

For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Music for Meditation

Can Anyone Hear Me 

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Take my thoughts, Lord, so that even they are pleasing to you.

You may grow so to follow His voice that even your thoughts will be brought “into captivity” to the obedience of Christ. This bondage is perfect freedom, for we desire, He and we, only one and the same thing.

~~Isabella Lilias Trotter

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

Maybe you have a quiet time with God every morning. You participate in a women’s Bible study at church, and you might even teach Sunday school. From all outward appearances, you have your spiritual life on track.

But what about your thought life? Where does your mind tend to go when driving home from work or doing mindless chores at home? Are your thoughts focused on anxieties and worries? Resentments or slights? Do you delve into unwholesome fantasies about what your life could have been?

Conquering our spiritual outward trappings is not enough. Our thoughts must also be taken captive and obedient to Christ. His lordship and authority need to penetrate deeply into every aspect of our lives, including the very thoughts we have. Then our desires and his desires will be the same—and that gives us true freedom!

Prayer for Meditation

Take my thoughts, Lord, so that even they are pleasing to you.

Scripture for Meditation

We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

Music for Meditation

How Great Is The Love

 

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God offers his strength and wisdom for the work of today

Faithfulness today is the best preparation for the demands of tomorrow.

~~Elizabeth Elliot

This morning’s prayer and meditation for Sally’s healing comes from Take Heart, Oh God: Riches from the Greatest Christian Women Writers of All Time.

The tasks of each day cry out for our full attention and concentration, but how easily we distract ourselves! We worry about the mysteries of tomorrow. We dwell on the mistakes of yesterday. We procrastinate about what must be done today.

God says, “Trust me.” When anxiety and worry glue your feet to the floor, break the adhesive with prayer. God’s arms are open to you. Run to them. If fretting, questions, and doubt are ricocheting off the walls toward you, ward them off with God’s Word.

We don’t know what tomorrow will look like; we don’t know where God will send us. We do know that he offers us his strength and wisdom for the work of today. Reach for it. Let his strength become your strength to accomplish what is needed today, and in that, prepare yourself for tomorrow.

Prayer for Meditation

Take my yesterdays and tomorrows, Lord. Give me strength to be faithful this day.

Scripture for Meditation—Isaiah 43:18-19

“But forget all that—

        It is nothing compared to what I am going to do.

For I am about to do something new.

        See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

I will make a pathway through the wilderness.

        I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

Music for Meditation

 On Eagle’s Wings

If you feel led to do so, please post a note of encouragement in the comment section below, or send your note by email to PrayersForSally@gmail.com